Manitou Lake – Site 1

Apart from the fact that this campsite is very close to a portage, and just down the beach from someone’s cottage, this is a pretty nice site. You’ve got a fantastic beach in front of you (probably the widest I’ve seen in the park), great views and at least the feeling of privacy despite it being not that private.

Terrain: Very flat for the most part. The site is fronted by a wide sand beach that gradually turns into grass, then dirt mixed with pine needles. There aren’t really any significant tripping hazards or invisible campsite gremlins waiting to push you over. The site is about fifty feet back from the water.

This is what it looks like.

You can probably load/unload your canoe here.

Canoe Landing: Did I mention off the top that the site is at the end of the widest beach I’ve ever seen in the Park? My guess is you’ll be able to find a place to pull your canoe up.

It’s a fire pit!

Fire Pit: It’s a pretty well built fire pit. The walls are built up on the Manitou side of the pit, which makes sense since I bet the wind can get pretty fierce by the time it gets to that end of the lake.

Swimmability: There’s a beach. It’s swimmable.

Tent Sites: Room for a two or three tents near the fire pit, and room for two or three hundred more along the beach. You’re not going to have trouble finding a place to pitch your tent.

You could put a tent here.

Or here (although it’s pretty close to the fire)

Thunderbox: The thunderbox is about 100 feet back of the site. It’s … not new. It’s in the middle of a fairly open space, which is probably why it’s so far back of the site. It’ll get the job done, just maybe don’t hang around too long. You wouldn’t want to be the one on it when the moss that’s holding it together finally gives up.

The thunderbox

Nice set up for the fire pit.

Accessories: A couple of really solid benches around the fire pit. The beach. A grill with the fire pit that is more an art installation at this point than it is a useful piece of campsite equipment.

Views: If you wander down to the beach you’ve got a fantastic western view of Manitou. Even if you don’t want to leave the comfort of your fire, the tree cover throughout the site is sparse, meaning you’ve got fairly clear lines of site to the water from the fire pit and the tent sites. This could also mean that, on a windy day, the site could get a bit chilly as there isn’t much protection from the oncoming wind. Small price to pay for those views though.

Looking down Manitou

Looking through the site.

Notes: This would 100% be my site of choice if I was coming into Manitou later in the day and choosing between one of the nearby sites for the night.